Will this subdomain produce results?

[dbuckles]

.

[Matthew_Edgar]

I'd agree that the main domain would be ideal but if there are too many business reasons (or financial burdens), you would probably be okay with a subdomain. A subdomain does get some benefit from the root domain.

Certainly, if you do go with a subdomain route you'll want to make sure that you do all the right things around that subdomain (links, optimization, social, etc.) so that Google/Bing see indicators not just to the root domain but the subdomain as well. Along with that, you'll want to have plenty of internal linking between the main site and the subdomain site.

One other thought is, is it possible to do this as a sub-directory (suretybond.com/storefront)? A sub-directory would be considerably more beneficial from an SEO standpoint since you don't have to worry about how much link juice/trust/authority is passed from the root domain to the subdomain. I realize technically that isn't always possible given the way things are configured.

Also, there was a good blog post about this on SEOmoz from 2009 that you might want to check out. http://www.seomoz.org/blog/understanding-root-domains-subdomains-vs-subfolders-microsites